Sahaja Yoga Meditation Center — Durban, South Africa

Sahaja Yoga meditation classes in Durban, South Africa

In Durban, Sahaja Yoga Meditation belongs to a loose network of South African groups that also includes Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg, Gauteng and Knysna. The material available lists Durban and its surrounding areas for physical classes, but gives no street address, hall or founding date. This is a practice more than a building. The practice comes from Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, named as its founder. Its starting point is Self Realisation, the awakening of Kundalini, described as a coiled, mothering energy resting in the sacrum bone. The teaching holds that this awakening happens spontaneously, with no payment, diploma or discipleship required. Practitioners describe a cool breeze above the head and in the palms, and then a state called Thoughtless Awareness, in which the mind is quiet but fully alert. The name carries the idea: Sahaja means born within, or spontaneous, and Yoga means union. The beginner course runs for ten weekly lessons. The first covers a guided Self Realisation meditation, a foot soak using the water and earth elements, and raising the Kundalini with a protective band, called a bandhan. Each later week takes one chakra in turn, from Mooladhara to Sahasrara, with a guided meditation and daily practice. A two-week advanced course follows. Students also learn clearing techniques, among them footsoaking, affirmations, and an ice pack and candle treatment, and are advised to meditate for ten to fifteen minutes a day. The pages say Sahaja Yoga is practised in more than 130 countries, that its public programmes are free of charge, and that it is present in twenty African countries. Enquiries about Durban classes go through the Africa contacts by email or WhatsApp message.

Traditions: Sahaja Yoga, Kundalini Awakening, Self Realisation, Chakra Balancing, Nadi (Energy Channel) Balancing, Thoughtless Awareness Meditation

Programs: Beginner Online Course (10 weeks), Advanced Online Course (2 weeks), Weekly Sessions, Self Realisation Guided Meditation, Foot Soak, Raising the Kundalini and Bandhan, Chakra Clearing Meditations, Ice Pack and Candle Treatment